Second Chances

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters/plot. Just my made up ones.

A/N: Another chapter and closer to the finals of the chunin exams. As I said in my most recent chapter of Underneath the Underneath, there were some that expressed their disappointment about the brief summary I gave for the edits and how long I took for that. To give a better view of why it took so long I will explain the edits I made further.

I took each story and found the biggest flaws that were obvious. Wrote them down on paper and then slowly re-read the whole story and made notes of what had to be changed in each chapter if I wanted to fix one of the problems I found. From there, I rewrote, removed or changed the wording to be more clear and less confusing. I then fixed any of the grammar and spelling I found during the process. At that point I stepped away from the chapters that I had to work on for that problem for no less then a whole day. During this time I would work on a problem in a different problem. When I came back to the first problem I edited, I repeated the process.

To put it in perspective, Underneath the Underneath had 23 chapters that needed to be edited and reviewed as it had the most problems. At two days per chapter I needed a minimum of 46 days for the edits on that story alone. Second Chances had 24 chapters that needed edited and, at a minimum of two days each, that would take 48 days on its own. I am still during revisions and editing with my beta on my other story, a Harry Potter and Fullmetal Alchemist crossover. That has 21 chapters that need to be reviewed and I refuse to add a new chapter and do the revisions after the fact. Another 42 days. I honestly think that for a process that should have taken 136 days for only one pass each I made pretty good time considering a lot of parts needed three to get the wording right. In any event, I am glad that so many of you are still here. First the reviews and then the story!

SpeCTeR-117: I didn't have Naruto bring Fu because of the different things that they had to work on. In Naruto's case, he wanted to try to regain the use of Kurama's chakra and his more destructive jutsu so he needed a place far away from civilization. He knew that Karin could use the clan's chakra chains and wanted her to be able to access them. However, he also remembered that it took the Jubi and Madara placing Sasuke's life in danger to activate them at a time when Karin had fallen for Sasuke's chakra. He believed that if he lost control of Kurama's chakra again the combination of Karin's chains activating to try and save him from himself and Jiraiya would be able to stop him. Fu, however, needed to step away from Chomei's chakra and learn to fight without it. Something that she had little practice in. So by leaving her in Konoha he was placing her in a position where she still had to train and reach her goals, but do so without her bijuu's power. Does that make sense?

Lara5170: He has the knowledge he needs but at the moment his body is incapable of using most of it. So if he goes on the trip it would be to finish the reconditioning of his body, and perhaps try to get in contact with Itachi in secret to stop his suicide plan. I haven't that far but those would be the driving reasons behind the trip. As for Kabuto and Danzo, I haven't finalized their death/change of allegiance, yet. I promise I am working on it. If I do give Danzo to any of the enemies that he has made it would most likely be to Nagato.

Sonicprophet: I apologize about the pairings not showing up but some of them have not been finalized just yet and some of them are proving challenging since I have to write some of the personality quirks from scratch as they had little to no screen time in the anime or the manga. I will try to correct that in future chapters. Thank you for bringing that up.

BigBonedNinja: I am glad that I was able to clear up any of the confusion and problems that you had!

"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking

'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals

"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling

"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking

'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking

hello jutsu

**********A Storm's Path...*******

The sun was shining and the birds were singing yet despite the time, the hidden leaf village was nothing but a hive of activity. Residents, tourists and guests alike were buzzing with anticipation as their patience was finally paying off. In just one short hour, the chunin exam finals were going to begin. Many people had been waiting for this day just to try and see if their predictions on the matches were right. Many of them were placing bets on the outcomes, while others were just trying to find good seats. However, among the positive buzz of the civilians, the shinobi were tense. Sometime during the month a Konoha jonin, Hayate, was murdered by an unknown assailant. With the last bit of his strength he was able to leave a message warning of a coming invasion.

The higher ranked shinobi weren't the only ones tense with a feeling of dread. The rookies that had not made the finals and were in the crowd were also very alert. They had known for far longer that the invasion was coming and had been preparing for it. However, there is nothing anyone can truly do to prepare for a war if they have never been in one. Even those that had couldn't properly prepare. What they did know was that if Naruto and Sasuke didn't show up soon they would be disqualified.

"Where are they already?!" Haku snapped, chakra beginning to leak out chilling the air around her. Choji chuckled nervously as the people around them watched the girl wearily.

"I'm sure that they will be here soon Haku. I think your chakra is beginning to make the atmosphere somewhat to cold for the land of fire natives though." Haku blinked at the boy and then laughed nervously.

"Sorry."

"Temper Haku. I promise if neither of those boys show up soon I'm gonna hunt them down myself." Zabuza said from next to her. Haku just nodded and began to glare at the arena floor where a similar conversation was taking place.

"Ino stop twitching. I'm sure that Sasuke and Naruto will be here soon." Shikamaru sighed. Ino just twitched a little more and growled. Sighing he looked to his side just in time to see Hinata and Neji give a respectful nod to each other. They seemed to have promised on an honest fight as shinobi and not Hyuga clan members, without talking. 'Troublesome.' Shikamaru thought just as Fu perked up.

"Sasuke and Naruto are coming. Although I have to question their mental maturity if they are doing what I think they are doing." She informed the others making them raise their eyes at the emphasis on the "mental" part. For the foreigners it was odd because they should be the same age physically and mentally, right? For the other genin they merely sighed. It meant that somehow the THIRTY-ONE year old hokage had managed to talk Sasuke into something reckless and childish.

"Hiruzen, It feels odd for us to be sitting here like this doesn't it?" A spoke to the elder kage as he took his seat.

"Odd it does. I had never thought that I would get to see Kumo and Konoha side by side and not starting war on each other in my lifetime." A laughed at the retort knowing that there was some veiled aggression in it.

"True enough. Is it always this windy here this time of year?" He questioned as the Kazekage claimed his seat silently.

"Now that you mention in no." Hiruzen said as the wind began to pick up speed. Before anyone could say anything, a twisting column of air descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the arena. Spinning out of existence just as quickly as it appeared it revealed a medium sized group at the center.

"Damn it Dobe! How many times have I told you not to do that?" Sasuke yelled as he regained his bearings.

"Did you want to be late?" Naruto asked in amusement as he watched one of the sannin attempt to hold in his breakfast and his jonin struggle in vain to regain his footing.

"We wouldn't have been if we had picked up speed." Sasuke retorted angrily. Naruto had been using that technique ever since he developed it and never once gave any warning when he did. Suddenly the toad sage was standing in front of Naruto pointing at his face.

"God damn it Gaki! If you ever do that again I will ensure that your line ends with you! I've told you a million times not to do that!" He yelled and then turned away as he turned green once more. Naruto's response was to blow a raspberry making the red haired kunoichi with them laugh. Kakashi merely groaned at their childishness and grabbed Jiraiya and Karin's shoulders without warning and used the shunshin to take them to the stands making the green color turn darker on the toad sage.

"Jiraiya, please tell me you haven't found a way to turn into a toad naturally. You really are starting to look like one." Kakashi joked making the sannin glare before dashing out of sight.

"Kakashi my eternal rival! You were almost un-youthfully late!" Gai bellowed making Kakashi point to where Naruto was glaring and twitching. Taking a deep breath Gai shuddered as it almost seemed like the nine-tails was behind Naruto glaring just as heatedly.

"My bad, but seriously you were almost late and you missed the briefing." Gai said cryptically in reference to the announcement of the invasion.

"Sorry. We would have been here yesterday but we ran into some bandits that were harassing a town and you know Naruto. He had to step in to save them and since it was late when we dealt with the problem they insisted that we stay the night. We somehow managed to sleep through our alarms, all of them, and only woke up about an hour ago. We were going to run here when Naruto pointed out that if we did that we wouldn't make it in time. So he decided to do that without warning."

"What even was that?" Haku asked in curiosity.

"I'm not sure. He never did tell us the theory behind it but I do know that is the weakest form of it. I'm not even sure what that technique is meant for." Kakashi confessed. Gai nodded and glanced towards Karin who seemed to be chatting avidly with the Akimichi air about the benefits o certain low calorie food to the clan despite the high calorie requirements for their jutsu.

"She seems happy."

"She's Naruto's cousin. Apparently she has a unique manifestation of one of the clan's abilities that Kusagakure was abusing. When her team died in the forest Naruto decided to invoke part of the Uzu-Konoha treaty regarding his clan member's safety and basically told the Kusakage to go fuck himself in regards to her return. Obviously he wasn't happy and when he actually tried to send some shinobi to retrieve her on our way back Naruto sent them home in pieces. I don't think that he is going to try again." Kakashi informed the jonin making Gai's eyes widen.

"That was a bad idea." Kakashi merely nodded in agreement and looked at the rest of the Konoha jonin for the genin.

"Are they ready for what is coming?"

"As ready as they can be. In all honesty, I think that the only ones that are truly ready are Sasuke and Naruto and only because of how much they have already lived through." Gai said in a quiet tone making Kakashi nod once more.

"May I have your attention please?" A voice rang out from the arena catching everyone's attention. "The final round of the chunin selection exams will now begin. I am the proctor for this phase Shiranui Genma. The rules for this round are the same as the preliminary round. The fight ends once the opponent has forfeit, been incapacitated in anyway, lost consciousness or died. Any fighting after the match is called will result in an immediate disqualification. Now if I could have everyone but Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee leave the arena floor we can begin the first match of the finals." As everyone was leaving the arena Naruto nodded to Sasuke who returned the gesture.

'Your move Orochimaru.' They thought simultaneously. As Sasuke moved to stand across from Lee he could tell that something was different. For some reason though he couldn't put his finger on what was different. Lee was staring at his opponent seriously, analyzing him. He knew that he had no chance of beating Sasuke, only Naruto could do that. However, he had to show that anyone could become an amazing shinobi if they put their heart and soul into their training. That a disadvantage doesn't automatically make you a bad shinobi.

"Begin." Genma called as soon as he saw that both were ready to start. For some reason though he didn't feel like he was proctoring a chunin exam at all. The two genin were more reminiscent of jonin for some reason.

As soon as they got the go ahead the two shinobi dashed at each other intent on ending the match quickly. In Sasuke's case, it was because he knew that a prolonged battle would wear him out to quickly and that there was little to no chance of getting out of a battle against Lee with no injuries. As it was Lee was always making sure that he was just out of range for eye contact. Sasuke's eyes widened as he quickly moved to block an attack that he hadn't even seen coming. Instead of stopping it like he thought he did he went flying across the ring colliding with the back wall. There was absolute silence in the arena as many people tried to take in what just happened. Naruto was one of many that were just as baffled.

Sasuke grimaced as he pried himself from the wall and narrowed his eyes at Lee who was standing still where he had been never once taking his eyes off of him. Bringing his arms up to inspect them he groaned as he saw a bruise already forming. A real dark bruise. Glancing back at the taijutsu user his eyes narrowed further before opening in realization. Across the way Lee's face broke into a grin as the realization showed on his face.

"You already figured it out." He praised making Sasuke nod.

"I just can't figure out how." Sasuke replied.

"I'll tell you if you win." Lee promised vanishing from sight once more. This time Sasuke dodged out of the way instead of blocking and kicked out as soon as Lee was forced to slow. His feet connecting with Lee's midsection he pushed the boy back only a few feet and growled pumping chakra into his legs. Reappearing in front of the startled boy he kicked him once more. This time getting the desired effect of launching him across the arena.

'Just as I thought. How though? His chakra coils weren't developed enough for that.' Sasuke thought as he quickly drew some shuriken and launched them at the older boy. Instead of dodging like everyone thought that he would, Lee merely swatted the stars from the air and then charged once more this time drawing a collapsible Bo staff from his hip pouch. Unsealing his sword Sasuke met Lee's attack and as their weapons collided the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard.

"A metal staff? Surely you didn't forget my element Lee?" Sasuke chided as he channeled his raiton chakra down the blade and into the staff hoping to stun the green clad boy.

"Of course not." Lee replied as the lightening never even made it to him. "It has a array of seals to prevent just that. TenTen's father was more than happy to make it for me."

"Clever." With that exchange the battle continued. However, Sasuke knew that it couldn't continue. 'Let's hope that this doesn't bite me in the ass later.' He thought as he closed his eyes. Lee, capitalizing on an opening swung the staff and froze in shock as it collided with a massive purple construct instead of Sasuke. Jumping backwards he stared in shock at the creation.

"Susanoo. One of the strongest defensive jutsu of the Uchiha clan." Sasuke informed the boy. The being seemed human in form despite being made of chakra and only being a skeleton but it was massive.

"I see. So this is the ultimate defense that the Uchiha clan supposedly possess." A said raising an eyebrow. Hiruzen was staring quietly at the construct his mind running a mile a minute. How had Sasuke gained the next stage of the sharingan? Was Itachi already dead? What the hell had happened on the training trip?

"I'm very impressed Lee. To go from having little chakra available at all to be being able to convert it to elemental chakra and learn how to supplement your taijutsu with it making it even more deadly in just a month is something that you should be proud of." Sasuke complimented as Lee continued to study the ethereal creature.

"I needed something that could help me compete with ninjutsu users. That's when I realized that while I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu I could still do the water walking and the tree climbing exercises. That meant that I was not incapable of using chakra I just didn't produce chakra at the same rate as everyone else because my coils are to small for that. The important part was that I could use chakra. So that meant I could develop an affinity for it as well. The ninja in Iwagakure use doton chakra to harden their bodies in order to make it more difficult to injure them. Usually they do this through the use of a ninjutsu. However, since I could use my chakra internally all I wanted since everyone has chakra, why not do the same? It almost took me all month to figure out how to do so internally instead of externally without sending myself to the hospital. I managed though."

"I really am impressed. You are making far more progress than before." Sasuke emphasized to ensure that Lee knew he had already surpassed his other self from Sasuke's future. Nodding he relaxed his stance a little and stored his staff once more.

"I was fortunate enough that my chakra nature was in fact doton. I have a long way to go though before I can fight you with it as all the nature transformation has to be done internally for me but I had to see if it would help me fight against you. The fact is that it can but I am still not at your level. Plus I have a feeling that the technique you just used is only in it's weakest form and I couldn't even scratch it. This match is yours Sasuke. Just know that I will beat you one day. Proctor, I forfeit."

"I look forward to it Lee." Sasuke responded releasing the chakra around him as Genma declared him the winner. Applause rang out through the stadium as the result was called. Despite many of those in attendance not having seen most of the match due to the speed they knew that something great had happened in the arena between the two that seemed to be friends.

"Next match. Nara Shikamaru vs. Aburame Shino." Genma called as the two silently made their way down. Naruto nodded at Sasuke as he returned to his side and made himself comfortable as he prepared to watch a fight of strategy over strength and technique. As the two took their places they assessed their opponent carefully. Both knew that neither was the kind to fight recklessly or without a plan but if they tried to outsmart one another Orochimaru may start the invasion out of boredom. After a second they both twitched realizing that they had come to the same realization.

"Troublesome."

"I agree." Shino intoned as the match was started. As soon as Genma finished speaking Shikamaru had already finished a strand of seals surprising the audience as he jumped away from Shino.

"Hijutsu: Kage no Atsumari." He called out quickly. Jumping away from his position to place more distance between them Shino watched as the entire side of the ring Shikamaru was on fill with thick almost solid shadows obscuring his vision. Narrowing his eyes he cautiously sent a small group of kikaichu at the inky darkness only to watch as the shadows twisted and became senbon spearing the insects before they could get too close.

"Sorry Shino but your kikaichu won't be able to get near me. I have also already removed the female that you tagged me with." Shikamaru called out his voice coming from almost everywhere and nowhere at once.

"I see. You have managed to make something akin to the Nidaime hokage's Kokangyo no Jutsu. It works in reverse and is more of a ninjutsu instead of genjutsu. You conceal yourself, effectively blinding yourself, in a corporeal mass of shadow which acts as offense, defense and a sensory field." Shino deduced furrowing his eyes.

"That's not all it does Shino. You are right that it materializes the shadows much like the clan's Kageyose no jutsu. However, it is much more than that. The Aburame are capable of controlling the battlefield with their kikaichu by spreading them out and communicating with them. The Nara really can't do that and most of our jutsu are supplementary. They really are only at their best when combined with the Akimichi and Yamanaka clan jutsu. This changes things. It allows the shadows in the immediate area to be used however we see fit. For example, Kage no Konhcu no Mure." Shino felt his eyes widen as a swarm of what appeared to be kikaichu made of shadows came flying at him breaking from the dome.

"I will admit that the Nidaime's counter to dojutsu users was inventive and somewhat of a base for this technique though. If yin based jutsu can rob people of their sight, then what else can it do? After thinking over it I realized that it could do anything as yin release is governed by the imagination. Granted the Nara clan has never been very creative in that regard but training with Naruto taught me that to succeed you can't stay in your comfort zone. You have to leave it in order to get strong enough to protect the things that you care about. This is my form of stepping out of my comfort zone. Or should I say into my comfort zone." Shikamaru chuckled.

"It is clever but you aren't the only one that has been contemplating what he meant by that. I have my own interpretation that has shown their results." Shino replied as another swarm of insects left his coat. However, upon connecting with the shadow insects, instead of being skewered they exploded and dispersed the shadows that made up the insects. Shikamaru felt his eyes widen at the weird kamikaze tactic from a clan that valued their hives.

"Konchu o bakuhatsu sa seru. The result of trying to combine my affinities into my kikaichu to make them resistant to fire jutsu. It worked as they are fire proof but they have drastically shorter lives compared to the rest of the kikaichu breeds that we have. Due to this, with my father's help, we managed to make them into kamikaze attacks. They may have shorter lives but they are much easier to breed and reproduce much faster as a result. It does hurt me to lose them but they are living their lives to the fullest this way." Shino explained and Shikamaru felt himself smirk at the tactic.

"My shadows versus your hybrids huh? Let's see who can outlast one another then." Shikamaru smiled at the tactical challenge and sent another swarm of insects but this time mixed them in with shadow kunai. In response Shino threw kunai armed with flash tags to neutralize those as his insects took care of the fakes. The next several minutes were filled with loud explosions and flashes of light as they tried to out maneuver one another. As it seemed that the explosions were dying down and the crowd got their eyesight back they were once again treated to a surprising sight. The two genin from clans that specialized in mid range fighting and tactics were engaged in a heated taijutsu match. Disengaging quickly they both began to make the same seal.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" They both called releasing fireballs of roughly the same size. They collided in the middle of them and began to fight for superiority. Gritting his teeth Shikamaru carefully began to craft another set of seals while still maintaining the fireball. Before he could finish them however, the ground beneath him exploded as hundreds of insects poured out from the ground. Cancelling the technique Shikamaru glanced around at the arena and sighed nodding to Genma.

"The winner is Aburame Shino."

"I take it that was the result of just combining your Doton with the kikaichu?"

"Pretty much. They are far more durable but are harder to breed and grow slower." Shino replied holding his hand out to Shikamaru who gladly accepted.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SHIKAMARU?" Ino yelled from the stands making him sweat drop.

"First she tells me to train harder and stop being so lazy and unmotivated and when I do that she yells anyway!" Shikamaru whined making the crowd laugh. "Why are blondes so troublesome?"

"To annoy you Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled in reply. Shikamaru felt his head drop and a whine escape in response to his question. Around him the laughter grew.

"Those are some genin you seem to have Hiruzen. Developing new jutsu and coming up with innovative ideas so soon out of the academy and at their age is something not many can boast." A commented watching closely.

"Yes well they seem to have been motivated by two of their classmates lately. One you have already seen, Sasuke."

"I noticed that he seemed far beyond a typical genin. Having the same eyes that his older brother possess at his age is truly a feat to be proud of."

"Yes, I agree. Not even Itachi had access to the Susanoo so young. Though I do worry that they are pushing themselves to far."

"Let them be. They are becoming stronger at a rate not seen since the clan wars era and making the village all the stronger for it. What is there to worry about?" Rasa spoke for the first time.

"That is exactly why. You have heard the tales of the kind of shinobi that came from that era. Two of our kage were from that era and one of our biggest traitors. The world doesn't need strength like that anymore." Hiruzen countered.

"I have to agree. The world doesn't need strength like that anymore. Although there is nothing wrong with becoming stronger on your own. Perhaps they have already decided on their life goals and as a result know what they need to be able to do to achieve it. In that regard they should be left alone." A replied.

"We shall see. There are still four matches to go and when they are done perhaps we will have a better idea of what they are capable of and perhaps an idea of their goals." Hiruzen replied looking down at the remaining genin his eyes focusing in on Naruto.

'What are you hiding and how much of it do the other genin know? Have all of you turned against Konoha? Will you? Don't make me regret leaving you be, Naruto.' Blinking Hiruzen found his eyes met by a pair of icy blue eyes so reminiscent of Minato's that practically screamed an answer to his unspoken questions. Eyes that belonged on an old war veteran and not a newly minted genin.

You will never know old man. Even if you did you can't stop it.

*********T.B.C*********

A/N: Another chapter done! I was hoping to get further into the exams than just the first two matches but this will have to work for now. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy it and I have left the jutsu used in this story below with their translations. Ja ne!

Hijutsu: Kage no atsumari – Gathering of Shadows

Kokuangyo no jutsu – Bringer of darkness jutsu – Tobirama's (anime) Hashirama's (manga)

Kageyose no jutsu – Shadow gathering jutsu

Kage no konchu no mure – swarm of the shadow insects

Konchu o bakuhatsu sa seru – exploding insects

Susanoo

Shunshin no Jutsu